PHILADELPHIA  What does San Diego State coach Steve Fisher know about Florida Gulf Coast University?

A lot, it turns out.

And that was before he found out his Aztecs will play the Eagles on Sunday in the NCAA Tournament for spot in the Sweet 16.

“I probably knew more than any coach in America,” Fisher said.

Since 1990, he has owned a condo in Fort Myers Beach “a stone’s throw” from the university that began enrolling students only in 1997. He’s toured the campus. He’s read about the school’s meteoric athletic ascension in the local papers. He even met with the athletic director a few years back when she was looking for a head basketball coach.

It was in 1999, after he left Michigan and before he came to SDSU, and Merrily Dean Baker – the former athletic director at Michigan State and an old friend of Fisher’s – was the interim AD for Florida Gulf Coast as the school launched a Division II athletics program (that later transitioned to Div. I).

Fisher was asked by a Florida-based journalist Saturday if he had been offered the job, which ultimately went to Dave Balza, the student manager on Fisher's 1989 NCAA championship team at Michigan.

“We had a conversation, and (Baker) talked about how she was involved in the search committee, but we just talked about it,” Fisher said. “So no, I was never offered a job. She was very excited about the potential, and now I know all of those affiliated with Florida Gulf Coast are beaming with pride about the reality of what they’ve done.

“It’s been terrific.”

They might see him around town soon. Fisher annually vacations at the condo immediately after the Final Four.

Assist, Franklin

In the formal interview sessions with SDSU players Saturday, senior forward DeShawn Stephens was asked about his career-high 11 rebounds against Oklahoma, 10 of which came in the second half.

He reached over to Jamaal Franklin, sitting next to him, and patted him on the shoulder.

“This man came up to me and we had a little talk at halftime,” Stephens said, “and he got my mind right pretty much.”

Later, Stephens elaborated on Franklin’s pep talk in the team huddle shortly before the second half: “I don’t know what it was (in the first half). It was focus or something. I couldn’t get anything right. I wasn’t as aggressive and playing basketball like I normally play basketball. Jamaal told me: ‘Just play. Don’t worry about the crowd. Just play. It’s just us and the gym.’

“I realized this (game) might be all I have left in my career.”

All six of his offensive rebounds were in the second half, several of them during the game’s key stretch when the Aztecs put away the Sooners.

“When I came out in the second half and he was getting those offensive rebounds, he really sparked us,” Chase Tapley said. “We fed off that and just kept rolling. That’s how we’re going to need him from now on out.”

SDSU, with a D

Here’s how Fisher described the 70-55 win against Oklahoma a day later:

“I like how we played last night. We made some shots, which is always helpful, and our staple – which has been our ability to guard – I do believe showed through, especially in the second half.”

Which is another way of saying, the key to this team is its defense.

The Aztecs rank ninth nationally in defensive efficiency according to the Pomeroy Ratings, a sophisticated computer metric that evaluates teams on a per-possession basis. The eight teams ahead of them all were fifth seeds or better in the tournament, and six are still alive.

SDSU’s defensive field-goal percentage of .388 marks only the second time in school history it has held opponents under 40 percent in the Div. I era and would break the record of .396 set by the 34-3 team in 2010-11.

Notes

You can make an argument that no matter what happens Sunday, this is already the second-best season in school history for no other reason than it’s only the second time the Aztecs have won a game in the NCAA Tournament … The last time SDSU faced a No. 15 seed was in its 2011 opening game, a 68-50 win against Northern Colorado … Former Aztecs guard Kelvin Davis, who lives in Connecticut, was at the game Friday … Tapley now has 103 career victories, two behind D.J. Gay’s school record … The team will charter home immediately after Sunday night’s game, arriving in San Diego at approximately 3 a.m.